Session: Culturally Sensitive Practice for Parents and Families: A Global Perspective (Society for Social Work and Research 24th Annual Conference - Reducing Racial and Economic Inequality)

This symposium examines best practices in implementing culturally sensitive social work practice to support parents and families in a global context. Alongside increasing income inequality, researchers have documented a growing global "parenting divide" between economically advantaged and disadvantaged parents. Specifically, economically advantaged parents are benefitting from decades of developmental science regarding best practices for parenting children. In contrast, economically disadvantaged parents are not equal recipients of knowledge. As a result, research is showing that economically disadvantaged parents engage in less optimal parenting practices, such as spending less time interacting with their children and utilizing harsher discipline strategies, when compared to their economically advantaged counterparts. Necessary steps in closing this parenting divide include conducting culturally sensitive research to better understand families' unique needs and implementing cost-effective parenting and family interventions. This symposium consists of four complementary presentations that use a variety of methods to examine parenting in a global context. Specifically, the symposium presents a qualitative study, a randomized control trial, a community-based family intervention, and a systematic review.

Paper #1: Poor Yet Intimate: Parent-Child Closeness Among Low-Income Families in Singapore

Paper #2: A Randomized Clinical Trial Testing a Parenting Intervention among Afghan and Rohingya Refugee Communities in Malaysia

Paper #3: CBPR in Action: Examining the Key Processes in Developing a Family-Based Intervention with Sex Workers

Paper #4: The Effectiveness of Community and Family-Based Programs on Promoting Refugee Child Mental Health and Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The first paper utilizes qualitative methods to unveil relational processes existent in low-income mother-child dyads in Singapore. The results of this study will help inform parenting interventions and family services for this population. The second paper presents results from a randomized clinical trial of a parenting intervention for economically disadvantaged refugees in Malaysia. The presenter will discuss how this culturally adapted intervention impacted child, parenting, and family wellbeing. The third paper presents results from a family-based sexual health communication intervention for low-income families in India. The presenter will discuss how this intervention was developed in culturally attuned manner. The final paper presents results from a systematic review of parenting intervention programs for displaced populations exposed to political violence. The presenter will place emphasis on interventions that are presently available to economically disadvantaged parents in a global context.